The Journey Home: Tim Staples - Pt1 VIDEOPosted on 02/28/2015 11:16:01 AM PST by NYer
The Journey Home: Tim Staples - Pt1 VIDEO
Tim Staples is Director of Apologetics and Evangelization at Catholic Answers, but he was not always Catholic. Tim was raised a Southern Baptist. Although he fell away from the faith of his childhood, Tim came back to faith in Christ during his late teen years through the witness of Christian televangelists. Soon after, Tim joined the Marine Corps.
During his four-year tour, he became involved in ministry with various Assemblies of God communities. Immediately after his tour of duty, Tim enrolled in Jimmy Swaggart Bible College and became a youth minister in an Assembly of God community. During his final year in the Marines, however, Tim met a Marine who really knew his faith and challenged Tim to study Catholicism from Catholic and historical sources. That encounter sparked a two-year search for the truth. Tim was determined to prove Catholicism wrong, but he ended up studying his way to the last place he thought he would ever end up: the Catholic Church!
He converted to Catholicism in 1988 and spent the following six years in formation for the priesthood, earning a degree in philosophy from St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Overbrook, Pennsylvania. He then studied theology on a graduate level at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, Maryland, for two years. Realizing that his calling was not to the priesthood, Tim left the seminary in 1994 and has been working in Catholic apologetics and evangelization ever since.
Ping!
Great program.
A great testimony by Tim Staples.
Tim Staples is a great apologist.
edwinland, I like what Tim says at 5:45 of the video.
Tim spoke at the Catholic Men for Christ Conference in St. Louis earlier this month. He impressed me greatly, and I ended up buying two books from him and getting one free. He signed the copy of his book, Behold Your Mother, that I bought.
How exciting! Would enjoy your feedback on the books. Thanks for the post and ping.
And what was he studying? It wasn't the Bible.
And what was he studying? It wasn’t the Bible.
It was the Bible. Tim actually drew many Catholics away from the Church through using the Bible. But then he came across a Catholic who knew his Bible, and they had many discussions regarding their different beliefs. Determined to prove the other Marine wrong, Tim studied writings against Catholic teaching and writings defending Catholic teaching. This was very frustrating for him, because for every argument that he thought showed how Catholic teaching contradicted Scripture, he found a counter argument that showed how the teaching was actually supported by Scripture. After two years of this intensive effort, and a very bad experience at Jimmy Swaggert Bible College, he concluded that the Catholic Church was truly the church founded by Jesus Christ.
I’ll send a private reply this afternoon.
What exactly was he studying? You seem to allude to 'writings' other than the scriptures. And I would venture to guess that he was studying the church fathers.
Further, the comment about being associated with Jimmy Swaggart Bible college is also telling me this individual did not have the tools to interpret the Biblical text consistent with the grammatical historical approach using sound hermeneutical principles.
Post his story in full if you know of where it is ... where he lays out his exact arguments using scripture.
Post his story in full if you know of where it is ... where he lays out his exact arguments using scripture.
He was raised as a Baptist in Virginia and found Jesus at the age of 10. He loved Bible school. He fell away from the church but as an adult joined the Assembly of God and became well versed in using the tools, as you say, “to interpret Biblical text consistent with the grammatical historical approach using sound hermeneutical principles. He read books by Jimmy Swaggert, Dr. Walter Martin, Dr. R. C. Sproules, went to Bible school and eventually became a youth pastor.
His full story can be found on a CD which costs $20.00, which I would think you probably wouldn’t want to pay. I can share a brief biography and snippets of his story:
http://www.catholic.com/profiles/tim-staples
http://chnetwork.org/2001/05/tim-staples-former-assemblies-god-youth-minister-journey/
http://chnetwork.org/2010/03/tim-staples-assemblies-god-became-catholic-journey-home-program/
Tim met a Marine who really knew his faith and challenged Tim to study Catholicism from Catholic and historical sources.
Again ... He didn't convert from study of scripture ... he converted by reading RC propaganda ... and the church fathers. Which in and of itself tells me his exegetical skills are nonexistent.
Again ... He didn’t convert from study of scripture ... he converted by reading RC propaganda ... and the church fathers. Which in and of itself tells me his exegetical skills are nonexistent.
He has a thorough knowledge of scriptures. Otherwise, he would never have been allowed to be an Assembly of God youth pastor. In his talk to us, he said his purpose in reading Catholic documents was to prove the Church wrong. As he undertook this effort, he relied on impartial historical evidence to either support or debunk the Catholic writing. He found that many things he was taught about the Catholic Church were erroneous; that what he was told Catholics believe is not what Catholics believe. Even so, he still totally believed that he was a member of the Assembly of God. He kept telling himself, “I AM NOT A CATHOLIC.” So he went to Jimmy Swaggart Bible College to get back to his Assembly of God roots. He said that there was not a class he attended that did not attack the Catholic Church, with many things being said that were not true. Tim tried to ignore them, but he couldn’t help himself, he had to let them know the truth. Eventually, Jimmy Swaggart himself heard about this, and Tim was instructed to go to the office of a college official, who tried to convince Tim that he was wrong. After an hour and a half heated discussion, Tim was kicked out of his office. Tim said it was the darkest day of his life. Again he said: “I AM NOT A CATHOLIC.” But he realized he could no longer be a member of the Assembly of God, and knew he would become a Catholic. When he arrived home, his Mom and brother were very upset with at this news, and tried to convince him to come back into their church. Within 6 months, though, he convinced his brother to become a Catholic, and he is now a priest. In fact, he brought his whole family into the Church. So he evidently has some exegetical skills.
Because he was a youth pastor has nothing to do with whether he can exegete the scriptures or not. Depending on the particular flavor of AofG, if you speak in tongues and you're baptized with the Spirit that is the main requirement for ministry positions. Many of the AofG pastors have no theological training at all.
Within 6 months, though, he convinced his brother to become a Catholic, and he is now a priest. In fact, he brought his whole family into the Church. So he evidently has some exegetical skills.
Your logic is atrocious ... he converts his family and that implies he can interpret the scriptures correctly?
I am not convinced that he studied the Bible and made his decision based on solid exegesis of the text. I have seen nothing yet that discusses any specific passages that 'turned the tide' for him.
Does he consider his spirit baptism in the AofG null and void? Was he re-baptized as a Roman Catholic? Did he consider himself saved as an AofG or not until he became Catholic?
I have seen enough of these 'welcome home' threads to know that those who go from Baptist, etc. to Roman Catholic have no Biblical foundation for their transition ...
Most of the time ... the RC interpretation of the church fathers comes into play ... not the Bible.
Your questions indicate that you don’t know enough about Tim to draw an informed conclusion on his knowledge of scripture or exegetical skills. I really don’t know that much more about him than you do. During his talk, he mentioned that he studied the bible thoroughly as a Baptist and participated in many bible quizzes. He said the Assembly of God that he was part of did emphasize the bible, forming small groups that gathered weekly to study the bible. He gave examples using specific passages of his discussions with his fellow Marine and mentioned several of the subjects over which they argued. One example was Matthew 22:6, call no man father. He himself drew many Catholics away from the Church by starting with this passage and then going to other passages. Most of the Catholics that he converted did not know Scripture so had no response. But this Marine did. For every passage Tim referenced showing that we should not use the term father, the Marine came back with another passage showing where the term father was used in Scripture. He said they went at it with each other for over a year. At some point the Marine challenged Tim to read the Catholic documents himself; that if he was going to refute something, he should become familiar with what it is he is refuting. And it was during this study of Catholic exegesis that he found that it was more soundly based than anything he read from other Christian sources.
I do not know if you have ever looked at Catholic writings in any depth. I admittedly have not, but am reading more and more. I am also looking at writings by other Christians. Much of what Luther wrote was on target. Maybe you have studied Catholic teachings and concluded differently than Tim did. Which is fine. Many have. But if you haven’t, you really do not know the path Tim travelled, do you?
I fat fingered the Matthew verse. I meant to write Matthew 23:9
But your assertion about him was that he was well grounded in scripture ...
So on the one hand he is well-grounded in scripture, and I don't know enough about him to make an assessment ... but then you don't know much about him either ... ?
That at the very least suggests that your definition of well-grounded really means 'he is now a Catholic so he is solid.'
I do not know if you have ever looked at Catholic writings in any depth.
With the advent of the internet ... the online CCC is a valuable resource for RC teaching. Isn't that what we non-Catholics should be looking at for your beliefs?
Salvation posts her 'Catholic word for the day' ... and the huge array of RCs that post here are plenty of data points for determining what the RCC teaches.
Do you disagree here ... is there something else that I should look at ...
But your assertion about him was that he was well grounded in scripture ...
So on the one hand he is well-grounded in scripture, and I don’t know enough about him to make an assessment ... but then you don’t know much about him either ... ?
That at the very least suggests that your definition of well-grounded really means ‘he is now a Catholic so he is solid.’
With the advent of the internet ... the online CCC is a valuable resource for RC teaching. Isn’t that what we non-Catholics should be looking at for your beliefs?
Salvation posts her ‘Catholic word for the day’ ... and the huge array of RCs that post here are plenty of data points for determining what the RCC teaches.
It is true that I do not know much about Tim, but having seen him speak and through the process of reading a couple of his books, I do have some idea. I don’t know how you determined what my definition of “well-grounded” is; I didn’t even use that term. But based on what he said in his talk, he had a thorough understanding of scripture long before he met the Catholic Marine. I might also mention that he considered himself saved when he was a Baptist, even before joining the Assembly of God.
It is true that the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) is a valuable resource, but its intended use is to serve as a reference point. You may have noticed the many citations in the CCC; Sacred Scripture, Professions of Faith, Ecumenical Councils, Particular Councils and Synods, Pontifical Documents, Ecclesiastical Documents, Canon Law, Liturgy, and Ecclesiastical Writers. To truly understand Catholic beliefs requires a study of all of these resources. This is what Tim said he did. It is more than I am inclined to do and I can understand how others would not want to undertake this effort. I just hope that we can notice the many areas of agreement in our respective beliefs. As I mentioned, I was reading some of Martin Luther’s writings, and there many areas in which they were in agreement with Catholic writings.
Because Salvation was mentioned, I believe we should include her as a recipient.
I heard him speak once. He gave a wonderful, moving talk.
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